Travelogue: Day 2 - Door County

After picking Parker up at the airport in Omaha, we set out on our eleven-hour drive to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, arriving at the Holiday Music Motel just about the time dark was settling in. I had found this funky little motel as we were making plans and fell in love with it from their website. It is an old motel that had previously fallen into disrepair but has been restored and decorated in its original 1950s style. Just unusual enough to make me happy, I loved the old, metal furniture in the room and the way most of the place seemed like a step back in time in a Psycho meets Donna Reed sort of way.

Always attracted to the quirky and off-beat, I knew this was the place we needed to stay. The motel is owned by a group a musicians and has an on-site recording studio. During recording sessions, guests can watch what is happening in the studio on their television in the room. While there weren’t any recording sessions scheduled during our stay, it was still a cool idea and we just sort of loved the place.

Using the Holiday Music Motel as our home base, we set out to discover Door County. We spent the day going from town to town seeing what each had to offer. We stopped at a couple of art galleries but each time we found a grumpy artist complaining about outsiders coming in and stealing business or artists 'borrowing' ideas without permission and we eventually concluded we’d come to the area when the artist community was having a collective bad day. We decided to stop visiting galleries. All that negativity was harshing on our mellow.

We opted to visit wineries instead. They gave samples.

This was our first trip as a family when only one member wasn’t able to participate. We were all sad to leave Charles at home. Well everyone except the cats and the garden who were happy to be left in his care. Anyway, while he couldn't join us in body, we brought him along in spirit and included him in photos.

Here I got a shot of all three kids at Fish Creek.

Here he is with Parker, doing a bit of yachting.

And, being the friendly sort, we even got a shot of him with some strangers he had just met.

We visited a few wineries and took in some samples at each. Charles particularly enjoyed the Chardonay.

Dinner was at Al Johnson’s, a Scandinavian restaurant with a grass covered roof where goats roam during the day. I was particularly excited to eat at a restaurant with goats on the roof but it turns out it was too hot for rooftop goat grazing. While their absence was something of a disappointment, I was happy to hear that the goats were treated respectfully. Thankfully Al didn’t serve goat burgers.

We ended our Door County visit with open mic night at a local bar. I would never have guessed that those small town Wisconsin residents were such rockers. Some of the motel owners and staff performed, as well as a band who had been playing at a recent music festival. Budweiser and rock ‘n roll were the order of the evening. 

Charles, being tired from yachting, stayed back in the room.

Our first encounter with Door County was a good one. A few grumpy artists, a few nice wines, and a few good musicians.

Next stop:  Mackinac Island, Michigan.